[Added 9-9-1996 by L.L. No. 8-1996;
amended 11-24-2003 by L.L. No. 6-2003]
The purpose and intent of the Waterfront Business
District shall be as follows:
A.
In accordance with the Town of Tonawanda Waterfront
Land Use Plan and the Local Waterfront Revitalization Program (LWRP),
to provide for a planned district that will promote and accommodate
the development of business uses which are designed to recognize the
unique and irreplaceable character of the Niagara shoreline region.
The uses will take advantage of views of the area, and provide a buffer
between the waterfront public uses, the City of Tonawanda and the
light industrial areas of the Town.
B.
To encourage flexibility in design and use of sites
within the shoreline area while preserving the unique environmental
features and maintaining or reviving the aesthetic qualities of the
waterfront area. The flexibility of design will be accomplished by
establishing minimal dimensional requirements for principal uses combined
with site plan review and design standards which will ensure development
which is compatible with the goals of the Town of Tonawanda.
C.
To promote the most desirable use of land and direction
of building development in accordance with the Town's vision and LWRP
which protects the character of the waterfront region and the established
patterns in adjacent development, thereby maintaining land values
and protecting and improving the Town's tax revenue.
Only the following uses shall be permitted with site plan approval as set forth in Article XXIII:
Only the following uses shall be permitted with a special use permit as indicated in Article IXF and with site plan approval as set forth in Article XXIII:
A.
Retail, restaurant and lodging.
B.
In-service training schools for employees, provided
that such use is incidental to one of the principal uses.
C.
Nursery schools or day-care centers to primarily serve
employees in the district.
D.
Warehousing and distribution facilities representing
less than 50% of the square footage of the total leasable area of
the facility. Such specially permitted use must be accessory to the
primary allowable use.
E.
Any other commercial use which is determined by the
Town Board, in consultation with the Town Planning Board, to be similar
to other permitted or specially permitted uses, and which is compatible
with the purpose and intent of this district.
[Amended 6-17-2013 by L.L. No. 1-2013]
Accessory uses and structures, as defined in this Code, which do not exceed the thresholds set forth in § 215-151, shall be allowed as permitted by the Town Building Department.
The dimensional requirements in the WB District
shall be as follows:
A.
Minimum lot size and frontage. The required minimum
lot size and frontage shall be based on the amount of land necessary
to adequately accommodate the proposed principal use as well as all
parking, loading, landscaping, open space, setbacks, public access
and traffic access.
B.
Front yard setback: minimum of 50 feet, measured from
the nearest street right-of-way.
C.
Side yard setback: minimum of 25 feet.
D.
Maximum lot coverage: The total overall coverage of
all principal and accessory buildings and structures, parking areas
and other paved or service areas on any lot shall not exceed 65% of
the total lot area. The remainder shall be open green space and/or
landscaped areas.
E.
Height restriction: The maximum building height shall
not exceed 50 feet.
The following additional design standards and
requirements shall apply throughout the district. In addition, all
development within 500 feet of River Road shall conform to the requirements
of the River Road Overlay.
A.
Two Mile Creek and Rattlesnake Creek Buffers. A minimum
of 50 feet on either side of Rattlesnake Creek, Two Mile Creek or
their tributaries shall be maintained in its natural state or as landscaped
open space. The setback distance shall be measured from the average
adjacent high-water line of the water body. The applicant is encouraged
to protect the natural drainage elements within the project area and
to provide a means of public access along any drainage element or
within the fifty-foot buffer area where it is appropriate or desired
to integrate the preservation of the drainage features into the open
space element of the project design and accommodate trails.
B.
Landscaping, screening and buffering.
(1)
Landscaping shall be provided and maintained
to enhance the general appearance of the development, supply a visual
break of the built environment and give relief to otherwise developed
interior portions of the site to harmonize with the proposed buildings
and the surrounding areas. Appropriate shrubs, trees and plant materials
shall be arranged in beds, rows, islands, berms and clusters as foundation
and area plantings, and may give definition to street edges and provide
screening. They shall not, however, impede public views of the river.
(2)
Significant existing vegetation shall be preserved,
where practical, in any required waterfront or public access setback
or buffer area. The applicant shall be encouraged to incorporate existing
trees and other significant vegetation into the overall site plan
to the extent feasible.
(3)
The applicant shall submit a landscape plan
with the site plan. The landscape plan shall be prepared by a landscape
architect or arborist and describe the plant species, their locations
and size at planting and maturity. All plants, trees and shrubs shall
be planted and maintained in accordance with a planting schedule provided
by the applicant and approved by the Town. Landscape materials selected
shall be appropriate to the growing conditions of this climatic zone.
(4)
The landscape plan shall provide adequate landscaping
or screening for all utility buildings, loading docks, refuse collection
areas, cooling systems, storage areas and all other similar structures,
installations and features.
(5)
Tree planting spacing patterns of one tree for no less than every 30 linear feet of distance in a regular pattern along site edges adjoining principal business streets shall be required. Landscaping patterns along street right-of-way lines shall be consistent with the unobstructed view corridor standards established by § 215-8, entitled "Sight obstructions," which requires that shrubs and similar materials generally not be higher than three feet above adjacent street grade and that street trees have branches generally no lower than 12 feet above adjacent street grade in order that views not be obstructed for approaching or departing vehicles.
(6)
All trees shall be plant species having a minimum
caliper of 2 1/2 inches measured two feet above ground level
at the time of planting, an average crown spread of greater than 15
feet at maturity and trunks which can be maintained in a clean condition,
free of branches from grade to generally 12 feet above grade along
principal street edges and 10 feet above grade elsewhere. Trees having
an average mature spread of less than 15 feet may be substituted by
grouping the same so as to create the equivalent of a fifteen-foot
crown. Shrubs shall be a minimum of two feet in height when measured
immediately after planting. Hedges, when measured, shall be planted
and maintained so as to form a continuous visual screen within two
years after time of planting.
C.
Parking.
(1)
Parking shall comply with Article XIII of this chapter for the number of parking spaces required and the standards for the design of parking areas. If the site is within the River Road Overlay District, the provisions of the Overlay shall supersede other parking requirements.
(2)
Employee parking facilities developed as structures
or surface lots shall not be located within any setback areas or in
the front of any building.
(3)
Employee parking areas shall be paved with a
concrete or blacktop paving, paving brick or comparable hard surface
approved by the Town Building Department, shall have curbing or bumper
guards where needed and, except for driveways and other entrances,
shall be properly drained and screened from view from the street.
(4)
Parking areas for visitors, customers or clients
may be located within a setback area (required front or side yards),
provided that at least 50% of the area is landscaped. Such parking
areas must be paved with concrete or blacktop paving, paving brick
or other comparable hard surface approved by the Town Building Department
and shall be properly drained. A landscaped buffer of at least five
feet shall be provided between any parking area within the setback
area and the property boundary.
(5)
Parking areas shall not exceed 10,000 square
feet in area unless interrupted by a minimum fifteen-foot-wide landscaped
strip. Median requirements may be relaxed if the parking lot configuration
is irregularly shaped.
(6)
No loading docks shall be permitted on any portion
of a building which faces a street; provided, however, that if two
or more building walls face a street or a public right-of-way, then
loading docks may be permitted if adequate landscaped screening is
provided.
E.
Fencing.
(1)
The use of fencing is discouraged within this
district, except as needed for the purposes of screening features
such as storage areas, utility buildings and similar types of structures
or installations.
(2)
No fence shall be erected within any setback
area. Fences shall be limited to six feet in height.
F.
Storage of materials.
(1)
Required service areas, required loading areas
and outdoor storage areas shall be located so as to not be visible
from public streets, public pedestrianways or public open space. To
the extent possible, service, loading and storage facilities should
be architecturally incorporated into the building or architecturally
treated with walks, fencing and landscaping. Where these facilities
are visible from public or private pedestrian areas, public streets
or public open space, they shall be completely screened with opaque
materials.
(2)
Outside storage that is located within 150 feet
of the district boundary shall not exceed 12 feet in height. Elsewhere
in the district outside storage shall be limited to 20 feet in height.
G.
Utilities and communications facilities. No utilities
or communications facilities shall be installed above ground in front
or side yards. Where feasible, all utility and communications facilities
shall be installed under ground, in a manner prescribed by the regulations
of the government agency or utility company having jurisdiction. All
facilities shall be planned so as to anticipate future needs and shall
be sited and sized to reduce future capital costs.
H.
Access to the rear of these properties and to the
surrounding properties must be considered in the design and layout
of any proposed use.
Uses in this district shall be no more intrusive
in impacts than is typical for standard office uses.
